On it’s annual trip north of the border to the twists and crests of the tight Knockhill circuit near Dunfermline, the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship saw battles in every race and more points for RCIB Insurance Racing’s top-scoring driver Jake Hill.

Hill hadn’t raced at the 1.09 mile circuit – the shortest on the calendar – since 2012 but was relishing the challenge of at track where drivers regularly get up on two wheels at several points!

Qualifying was unbelievably tight, Hill’s 52.19 second lap putting him 19th on the grid where 29 of the 31 drivers were covered by just one second….just 0.3 seconds off of P5 on the grid!

Heading team-mates Epps and Caine the 22 year-old from Kent made a strong start to race one and immediately began scrapping with Championship leader Rob Collard, having moved up a place immediately as Adam Morgan was pushed wide.

Passing both Collard and Josh Cook’s MG6, Hill was fighting with Depper and Collard most of the race – Collard passing late on before being pushed wide and seeing Hill ahead, ultimately finishing one place shy of the points in a hard-fought 16th place.

“Another good battle with Rob (Collard) and also with Depper. Pleased to have moved up but frustrated to have just missed out on points but we moved forwards and the car felt good” said Hill.

Race two saw Hill immediately following Collard and staying with him for the first five laps. Moving ahead of James Cole Hill also gained a place from Sutton after he had contact with Austin. Towards the end of the race a fierce scrap with firstly Austin, then passing Newsham and late on being pushed wide by Ingram and in turn benefitting when he was pushed wide.

A busy but quick race on the Soft ‘Option’ tyres saw Hill take points for 13th place but frustrated with what he felt was unnecessarily aggressive driving from long-term rival Ingram.

“The car was really good on the soft tyres and I thought we would definitely get into the top ten on genuine pace. I couldn’t find a way past Austin then got caught up with Ingram who pushed me wide at the hairpin and again later in the lap. I couldn’t miss him at McIntyres and we made contact which really damaged my car but we managed to get more points which was important”

The final race of the day saw another busy race, fighting with Josh Cook and later with both Newsham and Welch, struggling a little for pace late on but pleased to take the final points in 15th.

“Overall we had some really strong pace, especially on the soft tyres, but it’s been pretty bruising and we’ve picked up a fair bit of damage so it’s gonna be tough getting the funds for that in time for Rockingham in two weeks. I have to say a huge thanks to my team for all their hard work in getting my car fixed for race three – all the guys worked so hard so thanks so much to them all.

I also want to pay my respects to Jack Sears (the inaugural BTCC champion back in 1958) who sadly passed away this week. My first ever BTCC race in 2013 saw me win the Jack Sears trophy at Croft so it was very sad to learn he had gone. He was a really great driver and great man too”

Images courtesy of www.psp-images.co.uk